Shot victim, friend hold suspect till police arrive

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A Wilmington neighborhood is feeling a little bit safer tonight after two men held down an alleged robber until police arrived. One of the men had even been shot in the leg.

It was just after midnight Saturday when a group of friends were approached by a man walking in their neighborhood on Orange and 8th Streets.

“The guy came up and was yelling up at us from the balcony for someone to give him a cigarette, so Nick came down to give him the cigarette, and that’s when the guy drew the gun on him,” Jeff Marshall said.

Marshall’s friend Nick, who did not want to go on camera, gave up his wallet, but that was not enough for the thief. The suspect then told him he was going to follow him home and clean out his house. That’s when Nick fought back. Marshall rushed to his aid seconds later.

“At this point I heard what was going on and came running down the stairs, and I found them over in the middle of the street wrestling,” Marshall said. “We just kind of started running with the guy. He was trying to get away. We both wanted the cops to get here.”

In the process, the man shot Nick in the leg. Despite what happened, the suspect had a request for the victim.

Nick’s buddies weren’t the only ones who came to his help. Neighbors who heard the gunshot called 911 and kept an eye out from their front porch making sure Nick was OK.

“A lot of people think I was foolish,” neighbor Katherine Rudeseal said. “I opened the front door just so I can get a bearing on where the guy was and if he really needed help, and I can hear and see that he had the guy that was trying to rob him pinned up against one of my neighbors cars. I would have run out, but I knew there was a gun somewhere.”

Cops eventually showed up, arresting 19-year-old Daquan Ellison. He is charged with numerous crimes, including robbery with a dangerous weapon, assault inflicting serious injury and first-degree kidnapping to name a few.

According to the NC Department of Corrections website Ellison is on probation after being convicted last month of robbery.

During the scuffle, Marshall says his friend Nick was hit by the bullet, but did not realize he was injured until after police had already hand-cuffed Ellison. Nick told us he is doing fine despite being shot.